Tech Trends: Bringing Interoperability to Readers
This article originally appeared in the August 2024 issue of Security Business magazine. Don’t forget to mention Security Business magazine on LinkedIn and @SecBusinessMag on Twitter if you share it.
A partnership provides a big value for an end-user. As many security integrators are finding, end-users prefer security integrators who not only sell a specific technology but also are good partners to them; bringing additional value like cost savings and managed services. A partnership affects more than just one person; it affects the entire organization, and the organization will look for more from the partner.
That brings me to this tech trend: It is about solving problems – specifically solving problems I hear from security integrators around how to be successful with service level agreements (SLAs) and how to manage warehouse and truck stock.
For end-users, this trend is focused on interoperability, digital transformation, and business intelligence. And as these end-users face these requirements, so do their security integrator partners.
The Interoperability Engine Behind Modern Card Readers
In April, like many of the security professionals, I found myself at ISC West in Las Vegas trying to solve problems. It was recommended that I meet with Elatec. You may have heard of Elatec because of their more than 36 years in secure print applications. What was encouraging was that the company was taking its technology and enabling reader manufacturing to be brought to a whole new level; leveling the playing field in the landscape of card readers. In fact, Elatec is poised to be the interoperability engine behind the next-generation reader, creating a single reader with the ability to work with any credential – like a universal remote for the television.
What Elatec is building is simple – it is the engine behind the credential reader. Why is this important? As end-user companies are moving towards mobile wallets like Apple and Android, they are finding that they need to upgrade all payment methods in the building to support these wallets – for vending machines, point-of-sale systems, EV charging stations, parking stations, elevators, etc.
Simply put, the credential is no longer just about unlocking the door and controlling access. Reader technology is at the center of digital transformation, and reader manufacturers are finding their systems are now being tasked with communication across multiple systems. A single reader powered by Elatec can be used for access control, secure printing, Internet of Things (IoT) use cases, and more.
Elatec currently supports more than 70 RFID protocols, including full compatibility with the entire HID credential portfolio and the entire dormakaba suite, including Mifare/DESFire. They also support physical credential protocols such as LEAF, TWIC, CAC, and PIV.
Readers powered by Elatec support BLE and NFC credentials including standards like PKOC, Aliro, and Apple Wallet through technology partners like NXP and LEGIC.
“Our solution allows OEM partners to integrate advanced credential reading capabilities seamlessly, ensuring their products are flexible, efficient, and ready for global market demands,” Elatec CEO Paul Massey says. “By enabling compatibility with a wide range of credential types, Elatec Embedded helps manufacturers reduce development time, enhance product functionality, and deliver value to customers across various applications.”
An Open Platform
Just like the Mercury access control platform is successful because it has been the most open platform for access control, readers powered by Elatec offer the end-user the ability to grow organically or by acquisition and not have to replace door hardware in doing so – reducing budget and security concerns where changing credential types may not feasible.
Though readers powered by Elatec work with more than 70 RFID protocols; there needs to be a way to constrain those protocols, so the reader cannot be unlocked by just any credential. Readers powered by Elatec are fully programmable.
A programmable interface enables the installer to globally program all the readers at a site, or program individual readers for higher security applications. The programming interface also equips the integrator or the end-user with the ability to lock a reader once it has been programmed so it cannot be reprogrammed.
Impact on Integrator Operations
What does all this mean for the security integrator? Imagine having to stock only two readers on a service truck, along with one mullion mount and one wall mount.
By challenging the status quo in the credential reader market, Elatec is helping security integrators to standardize on a reader, potentially from multiple vendors, that can bring interoperability, digital transformation, and business intelligence to reality.
The one reader would work with all credential types – HID, dormakaba, and mobile credentials (both in the native mobile wallet or individual application wallets) – meaning integrators no longer have to source an individual manufacturer based on credential type. This is a win-win for end-users and security integrators.
